Last week, we were honored to speak with one of the world’s most influential leaders on climate change, Christiana Figueres. Figueres steered the Conference of Parties to the historic Paris Agreement in 2015 and served as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change from 2010-2016. She’s kind of a big deal. (You can read more about her incredible work on her website.)

Figueres joined regular hosts Ed Waisanen, Edie Juno, and SNRE alum Arman Golrokhian on March 14 before she spoke at annual Wege Lecture series. During her talk, she presented mitigation as the only economically-viable option to address climate change. In our conversation, she approaches the issue with the same no-nonsense attitude. We talk big changes in industry and across multiple scales of government and touch on the University of Michigan’s carbon neutrality goals. To Figueres, it’s simple: we can wallow in fear and doubt, or we can get out there and make changes. She calls for a “solid injection of optimism.”

In this podcast, we explore Figueres’ journey to the UNFCCC. Born in Costa Rica to a family of leaders and diplomats, she’s spent three decades of her life tackling climate change. She’s enjoyed unique success in negotiations surrounding the issue, bringing people from across the world together when others failed to do so. We also hear how Figueres uses mindfulness to stay grounded and bring intentionality to climate change negotiations.

Figueres emphatically supports the efforts of young students and activists around the globe with a shout out to the March 15 climate strike and the work of Greta Thunberg. “Don’t give up,” she stresses.

With tenacity and dogged determination, Figueres continues to tackle these issues. She’s active on Twitter and will be launching a podcast soon! You don’t want to miss this one.